Blu-ray Review: The Hills Have Eyes Part II

The best decade for film was, far and away, the 1970s. It was the best for comedy, with Woody Allen’s work and Hal Ashby’s fantastic output. It was the best for crime dramas, with The Godfather, Mean Streets, and The French Connection. It was the best for science fiction, with Star Wars, Fantastic Planet and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. And it was especially the best for horror, with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, The Omen, Jaws, Halloween and The Hills Have Eyes all being released at that time. All of those movies spawned sequels, with Wes Craven waiting until the mid-1980s to revisit the characters of his The Hills Have Eyes. Perhaps he shouldn’t have waited so long, for The Hills Have Eyes Part II, like most sequels, is not nearly as good as the original. However, there are things about it that make it worth seeing. And last year, Arrow Video released a special edition of the film, with bonus material, making it a perfect time to check this one out.

The movie opens with a title card telling us “The following film is based on fact,” and then giving us a brief reminder of the events of the first film. And if you can’t recall all that happened in the first movie, or somehow never saw it, don’t worry, for The Hills Have Eyes Part II periodically includes further reminders in the form of footage from that film. Bobby (Robert Houston), one of the few survivors of the first film, is, understandably, in therapy. He also is part of a racing team, and is nervous because the upcoming race is in the desert, near the spot where the horrors from the first film took place. He feels his team has an edge because he has developed some sort of special formula of gas that will give their bikes extra power. By the way, his team and entourage include some actors you’ll recognize from other projects, including John Laughlin as Hulk (you’ll immediately remember him from Footloose, which was filmed around the same time), Kevin Blair as Roy (you likely know him from Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood), Peter Frechette as Harry (he was in No Small Affair, which came out around that same time), and especially Penny Johnson as Sue (who went on to do some excellent work in the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and 24 and now The Orville). In addition to Robert Houston, Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe also reprise their roles from the original film.

As Bobby’s team is assembling, Bobby is busy reliving scenes from the first movie, and decides he is too shaken and fearful to make it to the race. Yes, Bobby is one of those rare characters in horror movies, making an intelligent decision at the beginning, thereby avoiding the horror altogether. The rest load onto an old school bus and head to the desert without him. Harry, who is driving the bus, is sort of a Neal Cassady character, weaving a tale as he drives, telling the others: “We are approaching the part of the desert where the family of Jupiter held sway. Where the sand ran with fire and blood, and the hills had eyes.” Yes, he actually mentions the title of the film. And why not? Ruby (Janus Blythe), having cleaned up well since the first film and now going by the name of Rachel, is part of the entourage and does her part by remembering scenes from the previous movie. Anyway, they are running late (because none of them remembered about daylight saving time) and so need to take a shortcut on some dirt road to make it in time to register for the race. And we all know what happens to people who stray from the main road in a horror movie. Soon they end up at what seems to be an abandoned ranch, looking for gasoline. And while the guys at first have fun scaring each other, it turns out that there are some real scares awaiting them. Soon it is clear that they’re not going to make it in time for the race.

One by one, these characters are picked off in typical 1980s slasher fashion. And if the music reminds you of Friday The 13th, there is a reason for that. It was done by Harry Manfredini. There are some good scares in this one. I love when that refrigerator door opens behind Cass (Tamara Stafford). And actually, Cass is one of the most interesting and believable characters. The scenes involving her are particularly unsettling and frightening because we don’t get any shots from her perspective, since she is blind. So we are constantly wondering what might lurk just outside of the frame, just as she wonders the same thing. Those shots are especially effective and suspenseful. There are also some ridiculous moments. I love that when Pluto (Michael Berryman) steals one of the bikes, he is concerned enough with his personal safety to steal a helmet too. It makes him a little less scary, though, doesn’t it? But of course the silliest thing in this movie is that even the dog has a flashback to the original film. Yup.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains some great bonus material, including a documentary titled Blood, Sand, And Fire: The Making Of The Hills Have Eyes Part II. This documentary features interviews with producer Peter Locke, production designer Dominick Bruno, composer Harry Manfredini, unit production manager/first assistant director John Callas, and cast members Michael Berryman and Janus Blythe. They talk about Wes Craven, about shooting at Joshua Tree, where it was terribly cold, and about the lack of funding for the film. Janus Blythe talks about her character’s death. Honestly, when watching, I hadn’t realized she had died. I thought she was just knocked out, and I kept expecting her to come back and save the day. Janus talks a bit about that. And, yes, the dog’s flashback is addressed in these interviews. This documentary is approximately thirty-one minutes.

There is a commentary track done by the folks behind “The Hysteria Continues” podcast. They talk about how the film’s score is quite similar to that of Friday The 13th, to the point where one of them says, “I am wondering if he was maybe using outtakes or even maybe identical cues.” They also talk about how the original The Hills Have Eyes was a big hit on video in the UK, and how that led to this sequel. They also mention that the characters in this movie genuinely like each other, which is unusual and refreshing, and they talk about how the desert is such an great location for a slasher film.

The special features also include a photo gallery of production stills, poster art and video art. The gallery plays without need of the arrow button, and is set to music from the film. It runs approximately seven minutes. The film’s trailer is also included.

The Hills Have Eyes Part II was written and directed by Wes Craven, and was released on Blu-ray on September 24, 2019 through Arrow Video.

Blu-ray Review: The Cat And The Moon

The Cat And The Moon is a wonderful and endearing and honest film about a high school kid who goes to live in New York while his mother does her stint in rehab. It stars Alex Wolff as Nick, a teenager who is trying to come to grips with the death of his father and the troubles of his mother while finding his own voice in the world. Alex Wolff also wrote, produced and directed the film. Mike Epps plays Cal, a musician who used to work with Nick’s father, and the person with whom Nick stays in New York. Stefania Lavie Owen plays Eliza, the girl that Nick takes an interest in. All three of these actors turn in remarkable performances, each with depth and heart and truth.

When the film opens, Nick is arriving at Cal’s home by way of taxi, and finding that the fare requires every bit of money he has. He then asks the taxi driver if by chance he has any weed. Well, the driver must have helped him out, because soon Nick is on the building’s rooftop getting high and interacting with whoever is passing by on the street below. It is a light moment, a way of trying to make the city his. And at his new school, he smokes pot in the bathroom, which is how he ends up making friends with Seamus (Skyler Gisondo) and Russell (Tommy Nelson), and gets to know Seamus’ girlfriend Eliza (Stefania Lavie Owen). With them, Nick is able to cut loose and enjoy himself. Though things take some serious turns, as when Russell uses a poor choice of words with a drug dealer on the street. And, considering the situation with Nick’s mother, it’s startling when Nick partakes in the mixture of drugs Russell purchased. Though that leads to a wonderfully funny moment when Nick is dancing like a maniac. Eliza asks him, “What happened to you?” Nick replies joyfully, “Drugs.” The entire cast is strong, and all the supporting players have moments to really flesh out their characters, helping to create a completely believable world. Olivia Boreham-Wing is wonderful as Lola, a girl who is interested in Nick, and sometimes just a look she gives Nick says as much as half a page of dialogue. And Russell, who at first seems like he is present primarily for comedy, turns out to have several sides to his character, seen – in addition to the drug-dealing scene – in the moment when he talks about taking piano lessons. But Skyler Gisondo as Seamus is particularly good, even able to accurately and honestly portray a state of inebriation, which is no easy task.

At the heart of this film are Nick’s relationships with both Cal and Eliza, and – most importantly – with himself, his coming to terms with the reality of his parents. Cal has some video footage of Nick’s father in the recording studio, and at one point Nick sits down to watch it, getting a different sense of who his father was, as he sees his father screaming at the technician because the drums are too loud in the mix. There are some truly touching moments in this film, like when Nick’s mother calls him. His reaction is so honest when he hears she’s on the phone, the change in his expression, his tone. Then when he’s on the phone with her, it’s like he becomes the adult in the relationship. We only hear his side of the conversation, but get a sense of what she’s saying from some of his reactions. This scene provides a nice contrast with those early moments when he’s with his friends. The scene where Nick tells Eliza about his father is heartbreakingly honest, both actors giving fantastic performances, and the scene between Nick and Cal when they talk about Nick’s dad is powerful, and actually had me in tears. But don’t worry, for this is not a depressing film. It has too much hope for the future to be so.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains a photo gallery of production photos. There are ninety-three photos, and they play through without the need of the arrow button on the remote. The film’s trailer is also included.

The Cat And The Moon was directed by Alex Wolff, and was released on Blu-ray on April 14, 2020 through FilmRise and MVD Visual.

Blu-ray Review: Unintended

Unintended is a beautiful and completely engaging film about how a traumatic experience in childhood can affect your adult life, and how people sometimes have to face their pasts before they can have a future. It stars Elizabeth Kail and Nathan Keyes as two adults in their mid-twenties who have a shared past as they struggle to face the present.

As the film opens we see a young girl named Lea (Hannah Westerfield) running through a clearing in the woods by herself, everything green and lush around her. Soon she and her friend Jamie are looking down from a cliff at a body of water, where apparently they’ve come before, thinking to jump but never daring to do so until now, her last day before she and her parents move away. Lea says: “Last chance. Tomorrow I’m gone.” Jamie is reluctant, perhaps fearful, but Lea jumps, shouting out for joy as she does, while unknowingly being observed by another boy. We soon get a sense of the girl’s imagination when in her clubhouse she sets up three figurines, including a wood carving of a bear, then sees the real-life versions of the three frolicking together in the field. A little later, when she finally speaks to Bill (Jay Jay Warren), the boy who was watching her, she sees a recent wound on his hand. “My dad cut me with a piece of glass,” he tells her. “By accident?” she asks. And what seemed like the most innocent and idyllic of places in those opening shots now shows its darker side, as Lea catches a glimpse of Bill’s home life, and also comes across a crazy person in the woods. On top of that, she witnesses her parents arguing, and things are beginning to feel out of control for the girl. When she runs back to her clubhouse to retrieve her figurines, she finds that Bill has taken the ladder she needs to get up there. And when she confronts him about it, there is an accident. Then when she finally gets home, she collapses, and it is unclear just what has happened to Bill in the meantime – and, frankly, to her. It is a frightening and unsettling moment.

Now an adult, Lea (Elizabeth Lail) wakes from a nightmare, a man asleep in the bed beside her, his face hidden, his identity unimportant. When she is out in the street, another man tries to grab her. This is a hostile world, this city, in contrast to the town of those opening shots, and we get the sense that her world has been hostile, in one way or another, ever since the incident. It changed her world, whether she realizes it or not. She is nervous, and we learn she has been in therapy and taking medications for a long time. She is also neglecting her work and is on the verge of being evicted. She is a loner, even canceling lunch plans with her father. It seems she has never gotten past that incident, and after collapsing at a pool, her mind takes her back momentarily to that spot in the woods. After waking in a hospital, she accepts an invitation to travel back upstate with her father.

“Not much has changed,” her father says when they arrive in town. And perhaps that is a good thing, for it will more easily allow Lea to face that dark moment from her childhood, a moment that still has a grip on her. And when it all comes back to her in a rush, she starts to confront her past, to piece it all together, with the help of Sam (Sean Cullen). Sam is an interesting character, an adult who had befriended Lea when she was a child and helps her now to discover the truth of what happened back then. He, like her, is a loner, and certainly has a heart and a gentle disposition, but leads a somewhat curious life. Perhaps even more curious is the strange fact that Lea’s father takes her upstate and then basically disappears from the action. But it is Elizabeth Lail’s excellent performance that drives the film and keeps us engaged. She is absolutely phenomenal in this film.

Special Features

The Blu-ray includes a photo gallery of more than a hundred production stills. The gallery plays without the need of pressing the arrow key on the remote. The film’s trailer is also included

Unintended was written and directed by Anja Murmann, and was released on Blu-ray on April 14, 2020 through FilmRise and MVD Visual.